Being alive.

[Otherright]

This question goes out to everyone of any theistic or non-theistic denomination.


What is your purpose of living? This came up in another thread and I believe it deserves its own discussion, considering many believe religions purpose is to give purpose.

I'll start.

My purpose for continued existence is to advance human understanding and potentially get us off this rock and into space.

I refuse to let those damn potential aliens upstage us!

My purpose is to know, and hopefully, that knowing will translate to wisdom. To share with others what I've learned and experienced in written form, and maybe help them to understand a small piece of themselves and the world we live in.

 

[joea]

My purpose is to know, and hopefully, that knowing will translate to wisdom. To share with others what I've learned and experienced in written form, and maybe help them to understand a small piece of themselves and the world we live in.

My purpose is to realize the "self' and to awaken the consciousness perhaps not yet realized in many lives.

 

[DavyCrocket2003]

I appreciate it but if it means anything, I do plan on seeking help to try to at least treat my bouts of depression.



Come to think about it, I feel similarly towards other people. I'm not a "people's person" but I do desire to help others find joy, love, and purpose in their lives. But I do feel a sadness about myself.



This is a great thing! I seriously find it refreshing to hear folks like yourself who not only love to learn and experience life but also want to help make the world a better place through public service. That's what I like about Mormons like yourself; your desire to make the world a better place by serving your fellow human beings.

When I say "little matters" to me, one of the very few things in life that matter to me are, indeed, people! My family matters. Other human beings matter. Making the world better and making people healthier and happier matters to me. I guess I just find no pleasure in hobbies or most human activities. I wrestle with a consuming sadness.

Hey Matthew. I am really glad to hear that you enjoy and care about people. I am not naturally a "people person" either. I am naturally a little socially awkward. However, I think that far more important than our natural social ability is our love for other people. People respond well to sincerity and genuine kindness. It is easy to feel out fakes. I would argue that the most fulfilling state we can achieve in this life is loving and serving others and being loved in return. I believe this is what many or most people in the world are searching for. Listen to the radio; what do you hear? I hear the music of people hurt and desperate, yearning for love but not understanding the principles true love must be built upon. I believe that a little love can go a long way. I know that it has in my life. I have been greatly lifted and touched on occasion by expressions of love as simple as genuine interest in how I am doing or a small act of anonymous service.

I don't know what you consider Jesus Christ. He taught some powerful and radical ideas. He taught that as we seek to lose our life in the service of others, we will actually find it. When we seek our own benefit through selfish means, we lose our life. I will vouch for this. I have seen it in my own life.

So Matthew, can you describe any further why you are consumed with sorrow? Is it something you can put your finger on? Is it a general feeling of dissatisfaction? Is it like some kind of longing for something more, something better? Is it a specific thing or issue that absorbs your attention?

 

[elmarna]

:foryou:My purpose is to provide people the chance to see what positive people are. what they can do & realize that in the choices we can make we do make a difference.
to see another way of thinking & being gets them to realize a world --not so..dark or formed with such saddness it can not be overcome!:hug:

 

[Man of Faith]

My purpose for living is to worship my creator and have a relationship with him and others on this earth while I can.

 

[DreadFish]

Having recently faced the possibility of almost certain death (riding a motorcycle for the first time ) I have realized that I would not be able to die in peace if I lived a life for myself. If at the end of my life I had been selfish and only seeking to enjoy life, I would likely be ashamed and feel like I had wasted my life. All the more reason to practice!

So this has just strengthened my faith in the path of the Bodhisattva, which involves realizing enlightenment for the sake of helping all beings end their unhappiness and suffering by realizing the same. It's the most unselfish life I can live, to give up my own for the sake of every other.

Having already given my life up for the sake of others, then at the time of my death I will be able to die in absolute peace and contentment.

 

[joea]

Having recently faced the possibility of almost certain death (riding a motorcycle for the first time ) I have realized that I would not be able to die in peace if I lived a life for myself. If at the end of my life I had been selfish and only seeking to enjoy life, I would likely be ashamed and feel like I had wasted my life. All the more reason to practice!

So this has just strengthened my faith in the path of the Bodhisattva, which involves realizing enlightenment for the sake of helping all beings end their unhappiness and suffering by realizing the same. It's the most unselfish life I can live, to give up my own for the sake of every other.

Having already given my life up for the sake of others, then at the time of my death I will be able to die in absolute peace and contentment.

Yes love and compassion are therefore the shadows of enlightenment

 

[Matthew78]

I don't know what you consider Jesus Christ. He taught some powerful and radical ideas. He taught that as we seek to lose our life in the service of others, we will actually find it. When we seek our own benefit through selfish means, we lose our life. I will vouch for this. I have seen it in my own life.

As of now, I consider Jesus to have been an apocalyptic Jewish charismatic prophet. After having read from quite a number of different authors, I'm convinced that this best fits the historical Jesus. Right now, my main goal for my personal "Jesus studies" is to finish reading Maurice Casey's book Jesus of Nazareth.

So Matthew, can you describe any further why you are consumed with sorrow?
Is it something you can put your finger on? Is it a general feeling of dissatisfaction?
Is it like some kind of longing for something more, something better? Is it a specific thing or issue that absorbs your attention?

It's very specific and is something I can put my finger on. When I was a kid, I grew up single. I was single and, with one exception, I didn't have a very beautiful, sweet-natured girlfriend. I was single nearly throughout my teen years and I was also single nearly throughout my 20s. This has left me feeling extremely devastated and it's a feeling of devastation that I have never recovered from; it still hurts and I have nasty bouts of depression. I have to remind myself of my family and all the people hurting out there who need love and care just to find the strength to keep on living.

 

[DreadFish]

It's very specific and is something I can put my finger on. When I was a kid, I grew up single. I was single and, with one exception, I didn't have a very beautiful, sweet-natured girlfriend. I was single nearly throughout my teen years and I was also single nearly throughout my 20s. This has left me feeling extremely devastated and it's a feeling of devastation that I have never recovered from; it still hurts and I have nasty bouts of depression. I have to remind myself of my family and all the people hurting out there who need love and care just to find the strength to keep on living.

If it helps at all, I was single throughout my teens. I didnt have my first kiss until I was 17. Just bad luck with girls. The ones I liked didnt like me, and the ones I didnt like did like me (most of them were really weird too ). I have felt absolutely worthless and have been suicidal before. Ultimately suicide isnt a practical outcome. I have had depression since I was 15, and its become very clear to me (though it has also been proven) that when depressed, our minds dont function as well as they would normally, and as a result our judgement is impaired, decisions making is tough (I have had the hardest times with the most mundane and unimportant decisions thats its just crazy [tee hee]). As a result of heavy depression, at one point I was highly reclusive, couldnt even look someone in the eye when walking by them on the sidewalk and thought I was turning schizophrenic (I wasnt). All that stuff has disappeared now.

The best thing for depression, in my opinion (and from experience) is living for others as opposed to living for myself. It can be incredibly hard to even care about others when depressed, but ultimately it pays off.

Meditation also does wonders. I couldnt recommend it enough.

 

[Alceste]

I have goals and plans, but I'm not sure I have anything I would describe as a "purpose". At any rate, my plan / goal is to build my own house, reduce my carbon footprint to nearly zero and become as close to self sufficient as I can within the next 10 years or so, then spend the rest of my days chopping wood, carrying water, listening to the birds, writing and playing music. This is motivated by the idea that I can not be at peace unless I live ethically, and it's very difficult to live ethically when you are plugged into an irredeemably unethical society. (Maybe that is a purpose - I dunno. I don't think in those terms).

 

[Kilgore Trout]

I spend most of my time and energy trying to stave off boredom.

 

[Penumbra]

I don't have any purpose. I just am.

I have goals, and plans to achieve those goals, and I do them just for the sake of doing them. I perceive certain types of activities to be a better use of time than other activities, so I try to do activities that I think are preferable in that regard.

 

[dawny0826]

To love and be loved.

I echo this.

And I'll add...playing with color, music and hopefully seeing certain sights along the way.

 

[Matthew78]

The best thing for depression, in my opinion (and from experience) is living for others as opposed to living for myself. It can be incredibly hard to even care about others when depressed, but ultimately it pays off.

Meditation also does wonders. I couldnt recommend it enough.

Living for others is probably the best reason to be alive because it's the most compassionate and moral thing to do. The biggest reason I'm alive, today, is my family. It was my family, not any church, not psychiatrists, not any divine being, that helped pull me through. It was because I knew that my parents, my brothers, and my sister loved me that pulled me through and gave me the inner strength to ride the storm of severe depression. I don't ever expect to feel extremely joyful or very happy in my life but I do figure that while I'm alive, the least I can do is to make the world a better place for other people. That's what I'm devoted to-doing what I can to improve the human condition. At least if I'm depressed, and I very often am, others don't have to share in my hell. Always trying to make others much better off than I am seems to me the most compassionate and moral thing to do.